Can A Molester Be Rehabilitated?

July 16, 2000|By MARK LAFLAMME Daily Press

HAMPTON — It would be nice to think a man like Bruce "Tommy" Colgan Jr. could learn by his mistakes and become a law-abiding citizen. It would be nice to believe he will never again be a threat to children.

But child-abuse experts say it's impossible to predict how Colgan will conduct himself following his sentencing Thursday for molesting two 13-year- old boys over a two-year period. The 42-year-old Colgan, who must stay away from children but will serve no jail time, might stay on the straight and narrow. But how likely is that?

"Molestation is an addictive behavior and it's hard to rehabilitate," said Monica Crawford, director of mental health services at the Child & Family Guidance Center in Norfolk. "It is a very difficult psychological area to address."

One Department of Justice study revealed that as many as 40 percent of convicted sex offenders who prey on children will become repeat offenders.

Some university studies show that most pedophiles will molest between 40 and 60 victims over the course of his or her lifetime. Others put that number as high as 150.

When it comes to sex crimes against children, various national studies show, a vast majority of Americans favor keeping offenders behind bars as long as possible.

"I'm in that population," said Frank Holloman, Child Protective Services Supervisor with the Newport News Department of Social Services. "I feel they should get more jail time. And there should be more monitoring when they get out."

When Colgan pleaded guilty Thursday, he was not ordered to prison. But he must adhere to strict court orders. He must stay away from children, register as a sex offender and submit a sample of his blood for entry into a state DNA data bank.

Typically, a person convicted of molesting children is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with minors. It's a condition of probation or parole that should keep offenders away from children, away from temptation.

"But we find that these people continuously perpetrate," said a counselor at the National Child Abuse Center. "They come out of jail and they're right back at it."

In Holloman's experience, it's too easy for an offender to fool probation officers and other officials. And a pedophile with strong urges to prey on children can also deceive others in order to get close to potential victims.

"They can tell you they live in one place but they're shacking up with someone - someone who has children," Holloman said. "We've found too many times, they end up with someone else who has kids."

Almost everyone by now knows that a child molester is not necessarily a menacing looking figure who lurks around playgrounds wearing a dirty overcoat. Criminal case after case has shown convicted molesters to be among the most respected members of society: priests, schoolteachers, Boy Scout leaders, bus drivers.

Colgan drove a school bus in Newport News for 15 years and worked at a skating rink in the city for 21 years before he was arrested. Even after the charges were filed he continued to drive a private bus, often carting children on field trips.

Investigators say Colgan met his victims at the Peninsula Family Skating Center while he was managing the rink. He lured two young boys to his Bellwood Road home, enticing them with offers of booze, money and gifts before engaging in sex acts.

Experts place pedophiles into several categories, depending on their behavior and techniques. Colgan might be classified as a "seductive offender," one who befriends and courts a child before persuading the victim to trade sex for money or other items.

Theories abound as to what makes a person a child molester, as well. Many offenders were, themselves, molested as children. Many suffer from deep insecurity and feelings of inadequacy. They find children to be nonthreatening partners with whom they can explore sex fantasies.

The debate over whether a pedophile can be cured continues. Crawford, the clinical psychologist in Norfolk, does not rule out the possibility of rehabilitation even as she compares child molestation to drug or alcohol addiction. After all, addicts and alcoholics can spend the rest of their lives with those temptations in remission. If a pedophile seeks help with sincerity and admits he or she has a problem, there might be hope.

"If he or she acknowledges that on their own, they are more likely to be treatable," Crawford said. "It's best when it's voluntary as opposed to mandated."

Thousands of sex offenders are in treatment programs across the country. Crawford said, however, there is no guarantee the convicted molester is not acting his or her way through the program.

"Often, people come to treatment because they've been convicted of the crime," she said. "They're going to be compliant with the treatment but you can never tell whether they're being truthful. They want to do whatever they can to complete the program."

Holloman's job is to try to prevent child abuse and to help victims and their families when abuse occurs. He is in favor of laws and other tools to prevent such attacks, such as the sex-offender registry, a Web listing of those convicted of sex crimes (sex-offender.vsp.state.va.us).

"Anyone can log on to the system and it has heightened awareness," Holloman said. "But then there's the huge population that doesn't have access to that."

Critics say the Virginia's online sex offender registry is flawed. The state law that resulted in the Web site requires only that violent sex offenders be included in the list.

Mark LaFlamme can be reached at 247-7870 or by e-mail at mlaflamme@dailypress.com